The present invention relates to a method of activating a passenger safety application in a motor vehicle, e.g., in a rollover event.
Single-vehicle accidents account for more than one-third of all accidents. In these single-vehicle accidents, most occupants become fatalities in a rollover.
Conventional passenger safety applications include roll bar systems for protecting occupants in the event of a vehicle rollover. In a rollover involving a convertible, these roll bar systems should ensure the survival space and protect the occupants from physical impact with the road surface or the ground. In a typical example embodiment, these devices are situated directly behind the vehicle seats and include a roll bar which, in the normal state, is pre-tensioned against the force of a spring, but in the event of danger, it is deployed by sensors on the vehicle and may be moved into a final protective position.
Furthermore, the present patent applicant is aware of safety systems configured as window airbags, which are deployed in the event of a rollover.
For deployment of the appropriate safety application, prompt detection of a rollover is necessary. Such an event is detected by rotational rate sensors, where a possible rollover may be predicted by converting rotational energy into potential energy at angles of rotation of the vehicle in the range between approximately 25xc2x0 and 55xc2x0.
One disadvantage of this conventional principle is the fact that systems including rotational rate sensors have cut-off frequencies of approximately 30 Hz, so a deployment decision may be made in a period of time of approximately 300 ms.
In ROSE events (ROSE=rotation sensing), i.e., rollover events due to driving over a ramp or a slope, this period of time for a deployment decision is sufficient to allow timely deployment of the respective safety application.
However, transverse acceleration of a vehicle occurs at the beginning of a SOIL-TRIP event, very rapidly moving the occupants out of their original positions in the vehicle. Such events may occur, for example, due to a change in the road surface (change in xcexc), a lateral movement on a soft road surface subsequently getting stuck due to striking a hard edge or a curb or the like. The time lag varies according to the maneuver, which then causes the occupants to be shifted in the direction of movement until contact with the side window occurs, e.g., on the side of the corresponding axis of rotation. Since a deployment decision must be made much faster in such an event than in a ROSE incident, the cut-off frequencies of the rotational rate sensors are no longer sufficient to promptly deploy the appropriate passenger safety application.
Although it may be used with any safety applications, the present invention and the problem on which it is based are explained with respect to a passenger safety system in a motor vehicle in a rollover event.
The method according to the present invention may provide the advantage that higher measuring frequencies may be achieved and thus it is possible to make a timely deployment decision even in a rapidly proceeding rollover event.
The idea on which the present invention is based is for a rotational acceleration sensor device to measure the rotational acceleration of the rotational movement of the vehicle, e.g., about an axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The results of this measurement are then analyzed by a computing unit for an evaluation of the vehicle situation with respect to its environment, and in case the analysis indicates an imminent rollover event of the vehicle, a suitable safety application is activated.
Therefore, it is possible to greatly increase the cut-off frequency or measuring frequency of the measurement operation, and timely activation of an appropriate safety application is thus possible even in a rapidly proceeding rollover event.
According to an example embodiment, the passenger safety application is configured as a window airbag and/or a roll bar. This offers adequate protection to the occupants of a convertible to protect their bodies from impact with the road surface and also to protect the occupants from impact of their bodies against the respective side window.
According to another example embodiment, the measured rotational acceleration is converted by a computing unit and an algorithm into other physical quantities, e.g., the rotational speed and/or the expected angle of rotation of the rollover event. It is thus possible to calculate, merely by measurement of the rotational acceleration, whether an angle of rotation of the vehicle which is sufficiently large for a rollover may be expected. In this case it is possible to decide promptly whether to deploy a safety application.
According to another example embodiment, an activation decision is made by a deployment decision unit within a time period of 100 ms.
According to another example embodiment, the axis of rotation is defined by the points of contact of the corresponding wheels of the vehicle. However, it should be pointed out here that other axes of rotation are also conceivable and may be handled according to the same principle.
According to another example embodiment, additional acceleration sensor devices are used to measure at least one translatory acceleration perpendicular to the direction of travel, the measurement results are taken into account by the computing unit for the analysis of the vehicle situation.
According to another example embodiment, the computing unit and an algorithm are used to detect a displacement of the center of gravity of the vehicle in a certain direction on the basis of the measured translatory accelerations, and the appropriate safety application on the respective side is activated if necessary. Through such a detection it is possible to ascertain toward which side the occupants are moving due to the rollover event and to deploy or activate the suitable safety applications accordingly.
According to another example embodiment, the course of the rotational acceleration may be classified on the basis of vehicle testing. Such test results may be stored in a storage device, e.g., in the computing unit, and compared with the instantaneous measurement results. Additional information regarding the immediately subsequent event may be derived from such additional information.
According to another example embodiment, high frequency measurement components may also be analyzed from the measured rotational acceleration. By integration of the rotational acceleration, it is possible to produce rotational rate signals which have already been low-pass filtered by the integration operation. This facilitates early detection of a rollover event and thus permits timely activation of a safety application.
According to another example embodiment, the rotational acceleration sensor device is additionally equipped with a rotational rate output for supplying the rotational rate to an analyzing unit. For example, in the case of ROSE events, this signal may be sent to the known system so that an additional sensor system has been created.
According to another example embodiment, in addition to the rotational acceleration sensor device, a rotational rate sensor is also provided. This may additionally supply the measured rotational speed to the existing system for a ROSE event. Here again, the system according to the present invention represents an additional sensor system for the known system.
According to another example embodiment, the physical quantities obtained from the rotational acceleration are sent to another decision path, the individual paths are introduced into the deployment decision unit for a decision regarding deployment of a safety application according to an xe2x80x9candxe2x80x9d criterion or an xe2x80x9corxe2x80x9d criterion. Thus, various analyses of different physical quantities may be taken into account jointly for a deployment decision.
According to another example embodiment, the rotational acceleration sensor device is configured as a micromechanical rotational acceleration sensor. However, other rotational acceleration sensors are also conceivable.
According to another example embodiment, the cut-off frequency or measuring frequency of the rotational acceleration sensor device is greater than 100 Hz. This permits a response to the start of a rollover event within a very short period of time.
Example embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the drawing and explained in greater detail in the following description.